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North Dakota agriculture commissioner warns of squeezed farm margins, details department programs
Summary
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goring told the interim government operations/budget section that commodity prices and record production coexist with rising production costs, and reviewed department programs from plant and livestock services to trade and grant management.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goring briefed the Government Operations/Budget Section on the state of North Dakota agriculture, stressing that high production has not erased pressures on farmers because input and production costs have increased sharply.
Goring said global production for corn and soybeans has been strong but pointed to structural demand imbalances in parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. "Our problem is the cost of production," he told the committee, citing higher prices for supplies, repairs, parts, equipment, transportation, fertilizer and chemicals.
Goring gave specific market figures: soybean cash prices he cited at about $8.65 per bushel versus a referenced breakeven near $10.32; corn breakeven around $3.80 with market prices near $3.60; and wheat prices he placed near $4.70 against a breakeven near $6.00. He said some elevators were refusing loads because buyers lack outlets.
On policy risks and trade, Goring described geopolitical factors limiting soybean purchases by China and criticized broad use of the Renewable Fuel Standard small‑refiner exemption. "If you keep allowing a small refiners exemption...I’m not so sure that it’s gonna help," he said, arguing the waiver practice reduces biofuels demand for feedstocks.
Goring outlined department programs and capacity: the agency implements "well over 250" programs with roughly 81 staff in administrative services; plant industries issues phytosanitary certificates (about 4,700 through 2025 and shipments to roughly 56 countries in the biennium); livestock licensing, meat inspection and training; hemp licensing and CBD inspections; pesticide registration and FIFRA coordination; and several grant programs including value‑added processing and a drone/UAS pilot for weed mapping.
He also warned the committee about market risk from resumed livestock imports, saying a return of roughly one million head from Mexico could depress U.S. prices and harm the livestock sector. Goring recommended vigilance around imports, animal disease monitoring and federal policies that affect domestic markets.
Committee members asked about China, federal ECAP payments and an alleged USDA incentive to retain heifers; Goring described ECAP as significant but likely insufficient to restore large trade shortfalls and said he had seen only speculation about a federal heifer‑holding incentive.
The commissioner also described program‑level work: the pipeline and royalty ombudsman program, which mediates payment disputes and reduced callers by facilitating company responses; the livestock zoning task force that proposed less restrictive setbacks (some recommendations were rejected); and a $3 million transfer out of the Bioscience Innovation Grant Fund after incomplete grantee requests.
Goring closed by offering to provide additional data requested by members, including the count of pet‑food manufacturers (he later confirmed 13). The committee did not take formal action on department requests during the session.
The Government Operations/Budget Section recessed for five minutes before the Tax Commission presentation.
